How We Met
by Dianadiamonds111971
Summary: At one of Bodhum's famous cafés, Lightning meets her cousin, Cloud's friend named Noctis Caelum. This is the story of how they met. Implied Hope x Vanille. Very light romance.


**Hi guys! Here I am, posting a Lightis one-shot. And for the readers of "Meeting You", the story will be put on temporary hold for now because the classes in my school will officially start on June 10; and I won't be able to update this for lots of months. Maybe I'll be absent in FanFiction for a year. Anyways, hope you enjoy this one-shot!**

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_"Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect... it only destroys." _

_- Lightning Farron, Final Fantasy XIII_

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***inside the Bodhum Café and Restaurant***

"Light, you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"I'm sure, Vanille. Now go have fun with Hope."

"Okay then."

With that, the perky corral-haired girl dashed outside the café.

Lightning sighed. She didn't want to go in an amusement park, since the atmosphere there was noisy; she preferred peace and quiet.

"And why is that, Light?" asked Lightning's fellow comrade in the Corps, Victoria Redgrave. (My OC)

Lightning only looked at her with a poker face. "I thought you might've known the answer by now, Tori."

"Yeah I know," Victoria waved it off. "But can't you have some fun, even once in a while? It's only temporary!"

"Even though, I won't try."

The conversation between them ended with Victoria sighing exasperatedly. Lightning Farron was really as **'stubborn as a mule'**.

A few seconds passed, Victoria broke the silence and said, "I'm gonna go check up on Hope and Vanille. They might be making out by now."

As she said that, she made a grossed-out face to emphasize how disgusted she was. With that, she stood up from her seat and walked out the café; fashion wedges making clacking sounds behind her.

_Finally, some peace and quiet... _thought Lightning. She then looked down at her long-abandoned cappuccino. It was already cold, though Lightning didn't mind. She never really liked hot cappuccino anyway.

She absent-mindedly stirred her beverage while looking at the other people in the café. She saw a group of college students chatting and laughing, a family eating together happily, a couple feeding each other, and a bored-looking guy wearing black.

Wait. A bored-looking guy, wearing black?

Lightning then observed the said guy. He had spiky, midnight blue hair, cobalt eyes and was wearing all black. Was this guy an emo?

He seemed to have felt her gaze on him, as he responded with his own. Lightning, a tad startled, immediately looked away; a faint color of pink dusting her cheeks. She was embarrassed, since staring at people was rude.

Even from afar, she could hear the guy let out a chuckle; thanks to her advanced senses. Since she was a soldier, she was injected with a sense-advancing serum; though a lot have died due to side effects.

Next, her sixth sense was tingling. She could feel the man's presence approaching her slowly. As if on cue, she turned around before he could say a word.

"Can I help you?" Lightning asked the man politely.

The man responded, "Uh... no."

He looked at the table and saw that Lightning was alone. He asked her, "Is someone sitting here?"

Lightning replied nonchalantly, "No, my friend just left."

"Oh. Mind if I sit here then? Looks like you could use some company."

Lightning looked up at him. She had to admit, he looked... a tad bit intimidating up close; though he seemed nice enough. As for his answer, she gestured her head towards the empty seat.

Taking the hint, he sat down. After some moment of silence, he asked her, "What's your name? My name's Noctis. Noctis Caelum.

No response.

The man only looked at her, waiting for an answer; but it never came. The man only smirked lightly.

"You know..." he started, the smirk still present on his pale features. "It is proper etiquette that you tell your name after the other tells theirs."

Still silence.

Though after a minute, Lightning lightly smirked. "Not bad... Caelum." she remarked.

She chuckled for a while before giving him his awaited answer, "Lightning."

"Huh?" He gave her a confused look.

She repeated again, "Lightning. My name is Lightning Farron."

"Lightning? That's... an odd name," Noctis couldn't imagine a female having such a name.

"It's okay," Lightning assured him. "Others say the same thing about my cousin too."

"What's your cousin's name?"

"Cloud Farron Strife."

"Cloud? Cloud Strife?" Noctis couldn't believe it. This female was related to his best friend, Cloud!

"Yeah. You know him?" Lightning asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes. He was my roommate at Bodhum University, batch '99," Noctis replied. "Plus, how come he never told me about you?"

Lightning shook her head. "Well... he doesn't like talking about himself, especially us. He's very... protective and secretive, you know?"

"I see."

"And yeah... He never told me about you too," Lightning added. "Like I said, he's very secretive."

Noctis nodded in agreement. He did remember Cloud being very secretive. He was also very introverted and did not like going out on parties; only staying on their dorm room to study.

He looked at his watch: it was 11:30 am. Noctis was supposed to meet his friends at Seventh Heaven.

"Shit... Lightning, I have to go," he informed Lightning, facing her.

"Oh... Okay then," Lightning said while nodding.

Noctis nodded back. While he was headed for the door, he remembered something and stopped abruptly.

He had forgotten to ask her for her phone number.

He had wanted to know more about her since she seemed... very interesting. Plus, he had lost contact with Cloud all through the years that had passed by since their graduation.

He turned back to face her again.

"Light," he started, a tad bit embarrassed. "Can I, um... have your number?"

As for Light, she seemed to be slightly amused at Noct. It was clear in her light-blue orbs.

"Sure, Caelum," Lightning told him, nodding.

Noctis then took out his Xperia phone and handed it to Lightning. She was a bit amazed at his phone.

"Sony Ericsson Xperia?" Lightning was taking a closer look at his phone. "Nice."

She then entered her number on his phone and saved it on his phonebook. Now done, she handed it back to him.

"Thanks," he said, then added. "Do you have Cloud's number?"

Lightning only shook her head. "Nope. He's been... missing for weeks now, and it seems that he had changed his phone number."

"Oh. Well, it was nice meeting you. Bye!"

"Goodbye, Caelum."

Later that night, Noctis was exhausted. After meeting his friends at Seventh Heaven, he was called on for a meeting with the rest of the Caelum Family.

Though, he still had a few spare energy left to do a few things.

While he was taking off his shirt, he suddenly remembered Lightning. He looked at his phone, which was sitting idly on the nightstand. He decided to call her.

He then looked for her name in the contacts and saw the label, 'Lightning Farron'. He then dialed her number.

It took good three rings before someone answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Lightning," he answered back.

"Oh... Noctis? Why'd you call?" Lightning's voice sounded a bit surprised.

"I just wanted to talk to you," he replied. "Geez, man hater much?"

"Very funny, Caelum..." Lightning said sarcastically on the other line.

"Heh. What you doing there, by the way?" Noctis asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just helping my sister bake muffins," Lightning replied.

"You... You have a sister?"

"Yeah. Her name's Serah."

"Cool."

With that, Noctis felt his exhaustion melt away at each second they talked. It was until 1 am that they decided to go sleep.

"You feeling sleepy?" Noctis asked her, yawning.

"Kind of," replied Lightning. "You?"

"Definitely," Noctis answered. "Well, gotta go. My meeting's in seven hours."

"Okay. Bye Noct."

"Bye Light."

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_"Fools set the rules in this world. Just take a look around. It's undeniable."_

- Noctis Lucis Caelum, Final Fantasy Versus XIII

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**Did you enjoy the story? Well, tell what your thoughts about this story are! Review.**


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